Senators Push Carbon-Capture Technology, Pinning Hopes On Trump

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Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced a bill promoting carbon-capture technology on Wednesday, reviving attempts to support a product that is not widely used but has the potential to cut emissions from coal plants and other facilities.

This is the second time Bennet has introduced the bill, along with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), allowing businesses to use tax-exempt private activity bonds to fund the installation of technology that captures carbon dioxide and then injects it underground into oil fields in order to improve the oil recovery process.

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Allowing companies to use these bonds would give them access to more capital to invest in carbon-capture technology, Dan William Reicher, executive director of Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, said in a phone interview.

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“This is an unusual alliance of industry, unions, environmental groups and state officials who support CCS,” Reicher said. “That’s the sort of alliance the Trump administration will take note of, and hopefully support these policies.”